Big news out of the offices of General Manager Joe Nieuwendyk, with the trade deadline approaching Wednesday and two veterans who here highly sought on the trade market Nieuwendyk made the decision to sell this year at the deadline dealing both Jaromir Jagr and Derek Roy today. Last night’s loss to the Anaheim Ducks knocks Dallas down to 12th in the Western Conference and the playoffs looking unlikely for a fifth straight season.

Jaromir Jagr was traded to the Boston Bruins in exchange for two prospects, Lane MacDermid and Cody Payne. Jagr, 41, was the leading point man for Dallas with 26 points (14g, 12a) so far on the season. Jagr was signed as a free agent in the summer to a one year contract to come in and provide a scoring threat on the first line and mentor the youth in the lineup this season. In return Dallas receives Lane MacDermid and Cody Payne. Left winger Lane MacDermid, 23, was drafted by the Bruins in the fourth round of the 2009 NHL entry draft. MacDermid is a big body forward 6’3 205 and likes to use his size and plays a very physical feisty game. In eight career NHL games MacDermid has three fighting majors, and eight fights in the AHL this season. Right winger Cody Payne,19, was drafted by the Bruins in the fifth round of the 2012 entry draft. From the United Kingdom, Payne is currently playing  in the OHL with the Plymouth Whalers where in 66 games Payne has 45 points (24g, 21a). Plymouth is currently in a playoff series against the Owen Sound Attack in the second round of the OHL playoffs.

Dallas also dealt center Derek Roy to the Vancouver Canucks today. Roy,29, was acquired in the summer in exchange for Steve Ott and Adam Pardy to be the much needed second line center. It was stated weeks earlier that extension talks between Roy and the Stars ended, and fans were expecting a trade to happen at some point. So far this season Derek Roy registered 22 points (4g, 18a) for the Stars and played in all situations. In return the Stars will receive Vancouver’s second round pick in the 2013 entry draft and prospect defenseman Kevin Connauton. Connauton, 23, is an offensive defenseman drafted in the third round of the 2009 NHL entry draft by Vancouver. In Connauton’s last year of junior hockey with the Vancouver Giants of the WHL, Connauton produced 72 points (24g, 48a) and is in his third season of professional hockey. So far this season with the Chicago Wolves, Connauton has played 60 games and has 25 points (7g, 18a).

A busy day as it seems the Stars have raised the white flag on this season, the trade deadline is tomorrow and the Stars might not be done as rumors continue to swirl about other possible veterans on the Stars roster.

Dallas meets Minnesota tonight in a rematch from Monday night’s disastrous defeat. Monday’s loss pushed Dallas back down to tenth in the western conference. With a huge amount of Pacific Division games on the horizon Dallas needed to start winning and looked to start tonight.

First Period

Dallas opened the game establishing control of the puck in the Minnesota zone as they were sending a message to Wild goaltender Matt Hackett that tonight was not gonna be an easy game. Dallas’ pressure paid off early as Mikko Koivu took an early period penalty that put Dallas on their first powerplay of the game. Off an offensive face-off win by Jamie Benn, Ray Whitney had a slap shot set up for him and he fired the puck past Hackett for his sixth goal of the season. Dallas continued to apply offensive zone pressure and soon were rewarded with another goal at the 7:31 mark of the period when Tomas Vincour scored his second goal of the season. Dallas looked to have dominated the period outshooting the Wild 17-7 , but a costly mistake by Alex Goligoski led to a Wild goal as noted Stars killer Devin Setoguchi scored goal number twelve this season at the 18:48 mark or the period. The first period ended with the Stars up 2-1.

Second Period

It was another struggling second period for the Stars as Minnesota bounced back this period, and Dallas continued with their second period woes. The Wild tied the game on the powerplay off Jared Sturgeon’s fifth goal of the season after an undisciplined roughing minor by Brenden Dillon. Minnesota carried the momentum this period and until the final minutes when Dallas made an offensive push and the trio of Eric Nystrom, Jamie Benn and Jaromir Jagr almost took the lead right back, but outstanding saves by Matt Hackett kept the game tied at two after two periods.

Third Period

Dallas immediately went on the attack in the Minnesota zone to open the third and it didn’t take them long to score as Eric Cole scored his sixth goal of the season and third as a Star just over a minute into the third period. Soon after the goal Minnesota got into penalty trouble as Mikko Koivu and Ryan Suter were both called for seperate minors at the same time giving Dallas an early period 5-on-3 man advantage. It took Dallas only 10 seconds into the first powerplay to score as Jaromir Jagr passed to Ray Whitney, who drew two of the Minnesota defenders, passed to Jamie Benn who shot the puck into a wide open net as Hackett had commited to Whitney taking a shot. Benn’s goal was his seventh of the season and first in over a month, and the second assist which went to Jaromir Jagr was career assist number 1,000. Minnesota could not stay out of penalty trouble and their penalty kill didn’t bail them out. Dallas’ powerplay struck again at the 12:40 mark of the period as Cody Eakin scored his sixth goal of the season. Soon after the Eakin goal, Minnesota’s fourth line came out and was looking to let out some frustration. Zenon Konopka grabbed a hold of Reilly Smith and after trying to shove him into the Wild bench, Konopka dropped his gloves and started throwing punches causing all players from both teams on the ice to get involved. The scrum resulted in three game misconducts as Zenon Konopka was sent away, as was Mike Rupp from Minnesota who was throwing punches at Jaromir Jagr trying to draw him into a fight, Antoine Roussel was given a game misconduct as a result of coming to the aide of Reilly Smith.  Soon after the big scrum ensued Eric Nystrom was on the ice for the Stars and looking to respond to Minnesota’s aggresive play and challenged defenseman Justin Falk to a fight, as the Stars were not gonna end this game quietly. The rest of the period went without a spark as Minnesota did score another goal at the 19:00 mark, but Dallas’ big push on the powerplay in the third sealed the fate of the Minnesota Wild as Dallas wins this one 5-3.

Game Extras

• Congratulations to Mike Modano as he was named a member of the Dallas Stars’ 20th anniversary team
• Congratulations to Jaromir Jagr as the 12th player in NHL history to record 1,000 assist, and the first European born player.
• Richard Bachman recorded the win tonight. Kari Lehtonen was having an equipment issue in the third period and Richard Bachman came in relief. While Bachman was on the ice, Jamie Benn scored what would become the game-winning goal thus giving Bachman the win. Bachman played for two minutes and thirty-two seconds and didn’t face a shot on goal.
• Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise, and Ryan Suter, three of Minnesota’s best players combined for 1 point and four minor penalties.
• Scoring Streaks: Jaromir Jagr’s four game goal streak came to an end, but he pushed his point streak to five games with assist 1,000 tonight.
• Jamie Benn’s goal tonight was his first since the Gordie Howe Hat Trick game against San Jose.
• Official Game Attendance- 17,376
• Official Three Stars of the game chosen by Mike Heika Dallas Stars Beat Writer for the Dallas Morning News: 1. Jaromir Jagr  2. Jamie Benn  3. Ray Whitney
• It’s an Easter showdown for the Stars in their next game as they continue their homestand against the Los Angeles Kings, puck drop at 5:00

The Stars haven’t been a great home team so far this season and they really needed to put that in the back of their heads tonight as they opened up a crucial five game homestand in their season finale against the Colorado Avalanche. These two teams just met last Tuesday in a game that was real chippy through out. Dallas sat in tenth place in the standings and a win tonight would push them back into the top eight of the Western Conference. Dallas put the pedal to the metal early in the game and put Colorado in a situation where they could not mount enough of a comeback.

First Period

The action started right off the first puckdrop as Colorado wanted to get the jump on Dallas early, but the Dallas players made a solid defensive stand on their first shift and created an offensive counter-attack which led to Derek Roy’s fourth goal of the season just 34 seconds into the period. Colorado is notably a bad first period team so Dallas needed to take advantage of it. As the first period moved along a skating game developed as the Avalanche attempted to use their bigger bodies to wear down the Stars and Kari Lehtonen, and the Dallas Stars played a defensive minded game and counter attacked.  Dallas got it’s first chance on the powerplay when Brenden Morrow drew a tripping call on Colorado forward Cody McLeod. Dallas didn’t need long to cash in on the man advantage as Jordie Benn and Eric Cole seemed to have both touch the puck and shoot it past Semyon Varlamov. The goal was credited to Jordie Benn at the 9:57 mark of the first period. Colorado outshot Dallas 11-10 in the period but the Stars possessed the 2-0 lead after the first.

Second Period

The Stars got off to a quick start in the second as well, it only took 58 seconds for them to score as Eric Nystrom who was line mates with Jaromir Jagr and Jamie Benn, scored his fourth goal of the season. Dallas kept the pressure on the Avalanche and soon it resulted in another goal as Cody Eakin got his fifth goal of the season, creating a 4-0 Dallas lead. That goal would mark the end of Semyon Varlamov’s night as he allowed four goals on fifteen shots. Old Stars rival J.S. Giguere would take the net for the remainder of the game. The Avalanche seemed to come alive with the goalie change as they were putting the Stars defense under more pressure, causing defensive zone turnovers and causing the Stars to play large amounts of time in their own zone. This was the cause of the Stars defeat last Wednesday against the Avalanche. The pressure soon cost the Stars as Brenden Dillon was in the box for holding the stick and Colorado scored on the ensuing powerplay as PA Parenteau scored his thirteenth goal of the season with just under one minute left in the period. After two periods the Stars still had a comfortable 4-1 lead.

Third Period

Colorado kept up their offensive zone pressure to begin the third, and again they cashed in with another goal as Paul Stastny scored his eighth goal of the season at the 1:37 mark of the third period. Dallas began to turn the period around with better defense, and making the game clock enemies of the Avalanche as well. An offensive push into the Colorado zone created the insurance goal the Stars needed to put the game away as Jaromir Jagr went behind the Colorado net and shot a wrap around that went off the skate of a Colorado defender and past JS Giguere. A little bit of a chippy end to the game as Brenden Dillon had possessed the attention of Cody McLeod and Shane O’Brien all game resulting in all three players getting misconducts. The Stars start an important homestand with a big win, defeating the Colorado Avalanche 5-2.

Game Extras

• Congratulations to Craig Ludwig who was named as a member of the Stars 20th anniversary all-time team
• Congratulations to Jordie Benn who scored his first NHL goal tonight.
• Streaks: Ray Whitney’s five game point streak came to an end tonight. Jaromir Jagr now has a three game goal streak and six points in his last three games
• Chasing 1000: Jaromir Jagr added an assist on the Eric Nystrom goal tonight giving him 999 career assist.
• Jamie Benn’s last goal was exactly one month ago, but in that span he is still producing with nine assists.
• Attendance count for the game: 17,311
• Official Three Stars of the Game chosen by Bob Sturm of KTCK 1310 The Ticket: 1. Derek Roy 2. Jordie Benn 3. Jaromir Jagr.
• Keep Dallas Pesky Honorable Mentions: Eric Nystrom and Jamie Benn
• The Stars continue their homestand Monday as Zach Parise and the Minnesota Wild play the Stars in the second of their three game set this season. Puck drops at 7:30

It was a day where nobody was really knew what was going to be expected tonight, at the beginning of the day we were expecting no Ray Whitney due to a injury suffered last night and possibly a Jack Campbell debut, but by game time Ray Whitney was ready to go and Kari would be in net hoping to bounce back after a couple of goals allowed by him led to a Stars defeat last night. The game didn’t look promising in the beginning, but Kari Lehtonen put on his Superman cape and kept Dallas in the game until they could steal it in the third period.

First Period

Los Angeles was all over Dallas in the first period, Kari Lehtonen was barraged with pucks and the Stars forwards and defenseman looked tired and were constantly taking hits as the Kings looked to wear down the Stars bodies early. Dallas didn’t help the cause with two penalties that needed to be killed. The Stars were able to hang on and muster five shots on goal that were no problem for Jonathan Quick. The Stars were outshot, out hit, and mostly out played in the first, but the score remained 0-0 after one period.

Second Period

More of the same from the first period occured in the second as Los Angeles kept the pressure on the Stars and waited on them just to break down. In the closing moments of the period the Stars fought back and established some time in the Los Angeles zone. Dallas was still outshot 18-10, but were keeping up their resilient play. At the end of two periods the game was still 0-0.

Third Period

The Stars used the third to strike back, Los Angeles was just unable to convert on their offensive chances, and the Stars used their failures to create counter attacks to the Kings’ zone. A great opportunity was created for Trevor Daley who was stoned by Jonathan Quick on a fantastic glove grab.  At the 6:34 mark the Stars resilient play finally paid off as Jamie Benn led a counter attack with Jaromir Jagr and Eric Nystrom at his side. Benn dropped the puck for Jagr who then fired a backhand off a King defender and behind Jonathan Quick. The Stars continued to prevent premium scoring chances for the Kings and Kari Lehtonen stopped all shots fired at him. Dallas got a support goal at the 10:34 mark of the period as Cody Eakin took a Dustin Brown hit to get the puck up ice and start a Dallas counter attack which finished with a Ray Whitney slap shot goal. That was more than enough offense as the Stars as Kari Lehtonen kept his shutout and beat the Kings 2-0 in Los Angeles.

Game Extras

• The Stars have won four in a row at Staples Center after tonight’s win
• Five game point streak for Ray Whitney with a goal tonight.
• Goal 677  and career point 1675 for Jaromir Jagr tonight
• First shutout of the season for Kari Lehtonen and career shutout 22.
• Alex Goligoski got his 15th assist on the season on the Ray Whitney goal.
• Philip Larsen made the lineup tonight in just his fourth game in the past month and played 11:27 all even strength time with three shots on goal.
• Second time this season that the Stars have won the second game of a back to back set. Something they only did once last season.
• Three Stars of the Game chosen by the LA Media: 1. Kari Lehtonen 2. Alex Goligoski 3. Jonathan Quick
• The Stars start a make or break homestand this Saturday as the Avalance roll in for the first of five games at the AAC for the Stars. Puck drops at 7:00 pm.

The Stars are on a short roadtrip and their first stop was in the Mile High City to take on the Colorado Avalanche. It’s the second of three meetings for the two teams. Colorado had been on a four game losing streak prior to tonight’s game and Dallas has been slumping as of late, so both teams were desperately looking for two points in the western conference standings.

First Period

Dallas opened up the offense tonight and dominated the period throughout. Colorado is notably a bad first period team so Dallas took full advantage of that. Dallas’ first goal of the game came at the 12:06 mark as Jaromir Jagr got his team leading 11th goal. The second Stars goal of the period came shortly after, as a rare goal from a defenseman put the Stars up two on Trevor Daley’s third goal of the year. It was not a great period for Semyon Varlamov as he seemed to be fighting the puck a lot. Colorado outshot the Stars 13-10, but Kari Lehtonen was able to stop all Avalanche chances. Dallas finished the first period ahead 2-0.

Second Period

As Colorado has been notably bad in first periods this season, the same could be said for the Stars in second periods, and tonight was no different. Dallas was unable to extend their lead on two powerplay opportunities. Colorado got on the board at the 8:48 mark of the period as the Avalanche fourth line crashed the Dallas net and Mark Olver got his third goal of the year. Almost five minutes later while on the powerplay, Dallas defenseman Trevor Daley had a terrible turnover in his own zone to Gabriel Landeskog. Landeskog then finished the play and got a shorthanded goal for his sixth of the season and tying the game at two. The Stars got a spark from the fourth line again as Eric Nystrom and Jan Hejda had a fight. Shortly after the Stars reclaim the lead as Ray Whitney netted a nice backhand for his fourth goal of the year. The Stars bounced back from a sloppy second period to still have the lead, 3-2, at the end of the second.

Third Period

Colorado was desperately playing to win and Dallas was playing to not lose. Colorado tied the game at the 6:20 off a bad goal given up by Kari Lehtonen as Ryan O’Reilly just fired a wrist shot to the net for his third goal of the season. Dallas could not get any offense going in the period and the turnovers piled up on them. Colorado took the lead late in the period off a bad play for the Stars when a Matt Hunwick slapshot went off the head of Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas and right to Chuck Kobasew who put the puck past Lehtonen making the game 4-3 Avalanche which would be the final.

Game Extras

• Pushing 1000- Jaromir Jagr had 1 goal and 2 assists for the Stars tonight. Career assist 997 and 998.
• Ray Whitney left the game in the third period with an undisclosed upper body injury. Which is unfortunate because he also pushed his point streak to four games.
• A little odd stat tonight, Both Colorado powerplay opportunities ended early as they took minors that erased their chances.
• .500- The Stars are 13-13-3 on the season. 7-7-1 on the road and 6-6-2 at home.
• Official Three Stars of the Game chosen by Adrian Dater of the Denver Post 1. Chuck Kobasew 2. Jaromir Jagr 3. Ryan O’Reilly
• No time to look at this loss the Stars have a game tomorrow against Divison rival Los Angeles. 9:30 puckdrop.

The end of a two game roadtrip for the Stars tonight in the Jobing.com Arena as they were scheduled to take on the Phoenix Coyotes for the fourth time with their great division record of 5-1-0. Last time the Stars met the Coyotes they were shutout 2-0, but the Stars offense has been potent as of late. The Stars would be without team captain Brenden Morrow who is out with a groin injury, entering into his spot in the lineup is Matt Fraser. The Stars had plenty of opportunities to take the lead in the game, but a slow start and the inability to finish on the powerplay cost them the game tonight.

First Period

Dallas got very little going offensively in the opening period as Phoenix dominated the time of possession in their zone. Dallas got six shots on goal, but Phoenix goaltender Mike Smith had little problem making the saves. The Coyotes got nine shots on Kari Lehtonen and one got by at the 16:59 mark of the period as Shane Doan finished off a play created by Antoine Vermette and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who literally danced around the Dallas defense to create the goal. Dallas finished the first period behind 1-0.

Second Period

Not much of a better start for the Stars in the second than in the first as Phoenix got the majority of the better scoring chances in the first ten minutes of the period and got their second goal of the game when Rob Klinkhammer scored his first career goal. At the second half of the period Dallas put more urgency into their game and started to put more pucks on net and made Phoenix take penalties. The Stars first goal came on the first of two 5 on 3 man advantages the Stars had on the game as Jaromir Jagr netted his tenth goal of the season and fifth on the powerplay. The second period ended with the Stars looking to take the momentum, but still trailing 2-1.

Third Period

The Stars tried to tie the game and created many scoring chances including another 5 on 3 man advantage  which the Stars had for 88 seconds and could do nothing with. The Stars could only get four shots on goal in the period and Mike Smith stopped them all. The Phoenix Coyotes defeated the Dallas Stars 2-1.

Game Extras

• Dallas’ record versus the pacific division now falls to 5-2-0.
• Jaromir Jagr has five goals in his four game goal streak.
• Scary moment at the end of the game for Stars fans when Jamie Benn was hit from his blindside by Martin Hanzal. Jamie Benn was down for a bit and needed assistance walking to the team dressing room. No penalty was assessed to Hanzal on the play
• The loss tonight now pushes Dallas out of the playoff picture as they fall to ninth in the Western Conference
• Doan’s goal in the first was his 31st while playing against the Stars, the most among any active NHL player.
• Stars continue to keep their penalties taken at a low as they only took two minors tonight.
• Three Stars of the game chosen by the Coyotes Broadcast Network: 1. Rob Klinkhammer 2. Mike Smith 3. Zbynek Michalek
• The Stars will have a few days off before they return to the AAC and face the Nashville Predators Tuesday, puckdrop at 7:30

It was the first meeting tonight for the Stars against the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings. The Stars have not played since Sunday where they ended Sunday night in fourth place in the western conference. At game time Thursday the Stars were in eighth and really needing two points. Los Angeles has been hot at the Staples Center lately, but so have the Stars in Staples but on the road in general. What at first was a sloppy start for the Stars turned around quickly as the game went along and the Stars cruised to a 5-2 victory.

First Period

The Stars were the first to score tonight as they got an early powerplay opportunity off a Keaton Ellerby tripping minor. Jaromir Jagr scored the powerplay goal for the Stars for his eighth of the season. The Dallas goal seemed to keep the Stars calm as for a big part of the first half the Stars defense was turning the puck over, losing puck battles in the corner, and having trouble clearing the puck from the defensive zone. For all the defensive mishaps Kari Lehtonen was there to erase the mistakes of the defense tonight. The Kings did score in the first period and it came at the 12:10 mark of the period as Jamie Oleksiak and Vernon Fiddler allowed Trevor Lewis to skate from behind the net to the left face off dot untouched and Lewis ripped a wrister past Kari. The first period ended tied at one with the Kings outshooting the Stars 12-8.

Second Period

A lot of the defensive woes continued this period for the Stars, Kari Lehtonen was able to stop all but one shot as Jeff Carter scored his western conference high 16th goal of the season, giving Los Angeles a 2-1 lead. A late powerplay for the Stars had great results as Cody Eakin crashing the net slipped the puck past Quick to tie the game at two. Dallas was outshot in the period 9-6, but kept the game tied at two.

Third Period

The Stars took control in the third. First Brenden Morrow scored his sixth goal of the year of a nice pass by Cody Eakin who caught Morrow right behind Quick near the crease. Just over four minutes late Jaromir Jagr netted his second of the night off a nice assist by Jamie Benn. The icing on the cake was an empty net by Antoine Roussel where he hit the jets to get to the puck before Drew Doughty. The Stars finished off the Kings in a 5-2 victory.

Game Extras

• Career goals 673 and 674 for Jaromir Jagr tonight
• Career goal 243 for Brenden Morrow who is tied for seventh on the all-time goals list in franchise history. Morrow is tied with Jere Lehtinen.
• The first line ended a nasty streak of minus games tonight.
• Many non factors in the game tonight for LA, most notably Anze Kopitar and Mike Richards.
• Discipline, discipline, discipline. Only one minor taken by the Stars tonight. Only three for the Kings as well.
• Both of the Stars Powerplay goals came off Keaton Ellerby minors.
• Three Stars of the game chosen by the LA Media: 1. Jaromir Jagr 2. Cody Eakin 3. Dustin Penner
• The Stars will travel to Glendale to take on the Phoenix Coyotes Saturday. Puck will drop at 7:00 pm

It was a night that began with optimism and intrigue for Stars fans. Tonight Stars fans welcomed back Kari Lehtonen from the injured reserve and welcomed Erik Cole from the Montreal Canadiens. Cole was making his Stars debut and Lehtonen was coming off a lower body injury suffered February 15th against the Vancouver Canucks.  Edmonton was ready to play from the first puckdrop and really pounced the Stars tonight in the final game of the season series

First Period

It only took Edmonton 73 seconds to score as Sam Gagner shot the puck past Lehtonen for his sixth goal of the season.  The Stars could not get anything going in the first as they were in penalty trouble for parts of the period and Edmonton goaltender Devyn Dubnyk was ready to answer any Dallas shot attempt. Edmonton struck again at the 13:52 mark as rookie defenseman Justin Schultz scored his fifth goal of the year from the point and gave Edmonton a 2-0 lead. Dallas outshot Edmonton 15-10 but ended the period down by two.

Second Period

The second period gave the Stars their biggest chance to come back as Edmonton took three minor penalties in a row and the Stars couldn’t capitalize. The only goal of the period came in a weird way as Jeff Petry shot a puck that took a couple of bad bounces and went behind Kari Lehtonen. The Stars were down 3-0 to end the second.

Third Period

The Stars penalty troubles continued in the period as Stephane Robidas was sent to the penalty box just 12 seconds into the period, and the Oilers just needed about 40 seconds to score as Ales Hemsky scores on the powerplay for his eighth goal of the year. Frustration got the better of the Stars as they lost their discipline throughout the period including Antoine Roussel and Jamie Benn who was ejected from the game after cross-checking Ryan Jones in the back when he interfered with Kari Lehtonen and bumped into him. Ben Eager would add a goal at the 11:37 mark of the period for his first goal of the year and giving the Oilers a 5-0 lead. The Stars would not get shutout tonight as a late offensive push finished off with a wrist shot from the slot by Jaromir Jagr that beat Dubnyk for his sixth goal of the season. The Stars don’t get shutout, but were dominated at home 5-1.

Game Extras

• Congratulations to Jere Lehtinen who was named to the 20th Anniversary all time team
• Erik Cole played 14:58 in his debut with the Stars and was a -2 with one shot on goal
• Another tough game for the first line as Jamie Benn was a -2 while Brenden Morrow and Jaromir Jagr were both -1.
• Jamie Benn’s cross-check on Jones certainly looked intentional and was a bit of a malicous play as Jones left the ice after the cross check. Expect Benn to get a call from Brendan Shanahan in the next couple of days.
• Bad luck on the Jeff Petry goal in the second as the shot went off Kari Lehtonen, off Trevor Daley who was defending in front of him and into the back of the net.
• Attendance for tonight’s game: 17,004
• Official three stars of the game chosen by Mark Stepneski Stars writer at Stars Inside Edge and DallasStars.com : 1. Devyn Dubnyk  2. Sam Gagner  3. Ales Hemsky
• Stars will try again Sunday as the St. Louis Blues will travel to the AAC. Puck drop at 2:00

Photo: Jason Franson

Great things are falling into place for the Dallas Stars, today began a western Canada roadtrip for the Stars starting off at the Rexall Place against the Edmonton Oilers. Today was the first time that they faced Edmonton with former defenseman Mark Fistric in the lineup. Fistric was traded early in training camp to Edmonton for a third round draft pick in the 2013 draft. The Stars had just defeated the Oilers six days ago with a 3-2 overtime victory with the game winning goal going to Jaromir Jagr. The Stars had a scary first two periods, but with the heroics of goaltender Kari Lehtonen, the Stars were able to hang in there and pull away in the third period for their fourth victory in a row.

First Period

The game started off scary for the Stars as Edmonton’s top lines came out on fire and pelted Kari Lehtonen early. The Stars didn’t allow anything off the opening storm of offense by the Oilers and at times generated some chances themselves. Michael Ryder had a good opening period generating scoring chances for the second line. The opening goal of the game came at the 12:59 mark of the period as Taylor Hall entered the Stars zone far near the left wing boards and just fired at the Dallas net. Kari Lehtonen missed the puck with his glove and the puck went into the net giving the Oilers a 1-0 lead on Hall’s third goal of the season. The Stars were not able to answer back quickly as they spent most of the remaining time on the penalty kill. Edmonton outshot the Stars 11-9 and led 1-0 at the end of the first period

Second Period

The second period was much like the first for Edmonton as they just dominated the play in the Dallas zone, but Kari Lehtonen had on his Superman cape tonight and stopped all sixteen Edmonton shots fired in the second period. The Stars caught a break at the 4:23 mark of the second as a harmless looking shot from Brenden Dillon took several odd bounces and went behind Oiler goalie Devyn Dubnyk and tying the game 1-1. The Stars were lucky to end the second period tied at one.

Third Period

The Stars were 4 for 4 on the penalty kill through two periods and the penalty killers had played tremendous throughout two periods. Eric Nystrom, Vernon Fiddler, and Ryan Garbutt started off the third period as the opening lineup for Stars’ head coach Glen Gulutzan, this moved proved to be genius as just 44 seconds into the period Eric Nystrom scored giving the Stars a 2-1 lead. Glen Gulutzan must have said something that fired up the team during the second intermission, because the Stars put their foot on the accelerator and never looked back. They outshot the Oilers 11-9 and scored two additional times in a short span. At the 15:25 mark Jaromir Jagr finished off a nice 4 on 4 play set up by Trevor Daley and Jamie Benn for his fourth goal of the season and career goal 669. Just under two minutes later the Stars fourth line cashed in again as Ryan Garbutt put on a determined drive to the net and put the puck past Devyn Dubnyk for his second goal of the year, helping the Stars grind out a 4-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.

Game Extras

• Glen Gulutzan still remains undefeated against the Oilers now at 6-0-0 as a head coach
• Jaromir Jagr’s goal was number 669 breaking the tie for tenth place on the all-time goals list with Luc Robitaille.
• Brenden Dillon’s goal in the second period was definitely one of the oddest goals ever scored. Dillon shot the puck that went off an Edmonton defender’s stick, off the glass behind the net, off the back of Devyn Dubnyk and into the net. Try creating that one in Geometry kids.
• Point Streaks: Jamie Benn’s assist on the Jagr goal gives Benn points in four straight games, and Derek Roy registered an assist on the Brenden Dillon goal pushing his point streak to five games.
• The Stars did have a comfortable margin of victory, but Kari Lehtonen still made 35 saves on 36 shots against
• Tonight’s official three stars of the game chosen by the crew of Sportsnet West: 1. Kari Lehtonen 2. Taylor Hall 3. Brenden Dillon
• The Stars will travel to Calgary overnight to play the Flames on Wednesday puck drop at 8:30 and remember on FSSW+

The day started out as a questionable one for Dallas Stars’ fans as the news spread about  Alex Goligoski being a healthy scratch tonight versus the Edmonton Oilers. The Stars’ highest paid defenseman was not in tonight’s game against a young and talented Edmonton team, but the Stars did not need Goligoski tonight as Glen Gulutzan pushes to 5-0-0 against the Oilers in his young head coaching career.

First Period

It was a skating game to begin, but Dallas got the better of the scoring chances and out shot the Oilers to get the crowd out of the game early at the Rexall Place. Edmonton came into the game with a red hot power play, but an equally hot Dallas Stars penalty kill was put to the test late in the first. The Stars looked to have got the better of the scoring chances on the penalty kill, especially a dangerous shot from Cody Eakin who beat Edmonton goaltender Devyn Dubnyk only to have his shot hit the post. The Stars outshot the Oilers 12-9 as the first period ended with the score tied at zero.

Second Period

The game’s first goal came at the 3:21 mark as a mess of defense by the Dallas defenseman and bad positioning by Kari Lehtonen gave Ales Hemsky his fourth goal of the season. The Stars struck back about ten minutes later as Jamie Benn beat Dubnyk on a quick snap shot and looks like a hot streak is starting as that was Benn’s third goal in two games. Shortly after the Stars found themselves on the powerplay after a questionable hooking call on Ales Hemsky. The Stars took advantage of the powerplay as Derek Roy took a slapshot from the point that went past a screen Dubnyk. The Dallas Stars led the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 after two periods.

Third Period

The Stars shockingly took no penalties in the second period, but they saved them for the third along with the turnovers as well. The Stars took three minor penalties, the second one was fatal as a high sticking penalty by Stephane Robidas loaded up the Edmonton powerplay and rookie Justin Schultz tied the game with a slapshot from the point that went past Kari Lehtonen and tying the game at two and requiring the game to go to overtime.

Overtime

It took the Stars just 1:46 to finish the game. There were only two shots on goal. The first one was a wicked wrist shot by Jamie Benn creating a rebound that found the stick of Jaromir Jagr who then dances around the Edmonton defense and shoots the puck past Dubnyk and ending the game.

Game Extras

• Congratulations to Jaromir Jagr as tonight’s game winning goal was career goal 668 moving him to number ten on the all time list tied with Luc Robitaille.
• Dallas has been historically good against the Oilers, tonight’s victory pushes Glen Gulutzan to 5-0-0 against Edmonton as a head coach.
• Alex Goligoski was a healthy scratch tonight, which caused a big stir in the hockey community. Goligoski is the Stars highest paid defenseman and for all intents and purposes it looked like Goligoski was benched for this game.
• Aaron Rome looks to have benefited the most from Goligoski’s absence. Rome played over twenty minutes tonight and played in key penalty killing situations for the Stars.
• The Oilers came in with big injuries to their forwards already as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Captain Shawn Horcoff were out, but center Anton Lander left tonight’s game with a foot injury leaving the Oilers with one NHL ready center in Sam Gagner
• Official three stars of the game chosen by the TSN crew: 1. Ales Hemsky 2. Loui Eriksson 3. Jaromir Jagr
• Keep Dallas Pesky unofficial Star of the game: Jamie Benn
• The Stars will be home Friday to take on division rival Anaheim. Puck drop at 7:30